Walter Gutman and Sugar Candy 1 c. 1959

Robert Frank's photogram, Walter Gutman and Sugar Candy 1, shows strips of celluloid film that feel like a storyboard or a collection of outtakes. The dark and light areas, the sprocket holes, and the frames create a rhythm, like the editing process itself becoming the art. The physicality of the film strip is so present, you can almost feel its texture. The contrast between the opaque black and the translucent greys creates depth. In each frame, there is a different arrangement of the subjects. It makes me think about the choices an artist makes in composing a shot, or, similarly, a painter choosing a colour. The red boxes around certain frames highlight the idea of selection, of choosing what to show. Looking at Frank's earlier work, like The Americans, you can see a similar interest in capturing fleeting moments, but here, he's also revealing the behind-the-scenes process. It reminds me a bit of Gerhard Richter's photo paintings, where the source image is just the beginning of a much longer exploration. Art is an ongoing conversation, full of trial, error, and happy accidents.